MOVIE REVIEW: Keaton and Douglas charm in dull 'And So It Goes'

This romantic-comedy about getting one last shot at love benefits immensely from the first-time pairing of Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas.

By Dana BarbutoThe Patriot Ledger

And So It Goes,” a romantic-comedy about getting one last shot at love, benefits immensely from the first-time pairing of Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas. But the most alluring thing about it might be the toupee director Rob Reiner dons in a supporting role. You could say it’s the (hair) piece de la resistance.

The movie, unfortunately, isn’t as well-coiffed. Sharing DNA with “It’s Complicated,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” and the vastly superior “Enough Said,” Reiner’s film explores well-tread ageist territory. Says one character: “The last time I had sex, I tore my ACL.” Ha ha! Is this really the guy who directed “When Harry Met Sally,” the gold standard of rom-coms? It seems light years from “And So It Goes,” yet another pat picture about the hostile mating dance between two adversaries – except the leads are AARP eligible.

Douglas is Oren, a petulant and crass real estate agent who wears pink argyle sox and seersucker suits. A widower, he has a strained relationship with his unscrupulous son (Scott Shepherd). He shoots paintballs at the dog defecating on the manicured lawn of the mansion he’s trying to sell. At his beachside dwelling, Little Shangri-La, Oren won’t even share the driveway with a pregnant neighbor (Yaya DaCosta). Everyone in their small Connecticut town hates him, especially his next-door neighbor Leah, played with sass by Keaton. See where this is going?

Leah and Oren woo each other with insults. She calls him “heartless” and tells him he needs compassion. He calls her a cry-baby because she’s unable to make it through her lounge act at the Oaks Bistro without shedding a tear over her late husband.

Oren’s plan is to make one last multi-million-dollar deal and head for Vermont. Life, as it tends to happen, throws him a curve in the form of his 9-year-old granddaughter, Sarah (Sterling Jerins). She’s thrust upon him when his son is sent to prison. Guess who helps gramps mind the child?

Frances Sternhagen (Reiner’s “Misery”) lends support as Oren’s feisty co-worker. “You think you invented men being a**holes?” she quips to Oren after he botches an interlude with Leah.

Meanwhile, Leah and Sarah take on a summer project to film the metamorphosis of a pet caterpillar. It’s one of those heavy-handed metaphors. That insect isn’t the only one transforming. By the end, more than one character gets their predictable comeuppance. And a cameo from “Jersey Boy” himself, Frankie Valli, feels gratuitous.

The script by Oscar-nominee Mark Andrus (“As Good As It Gets”) is as dull as the film’s title. When the movie tries to be something it’s not, a graceless tonal shift lurches the story from breezy romantic-comedy to sequences set in a drug den and prison. Those scenes seem like bits from different movies.

For their parts, Keaton and Douglas show why their total pros, able to prop up an unremarkable story and make it watchable, just not interesting.

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.